Chapter 11

Hinata used to be an enthusiastic teenager who lived pretty carefree and did whatever he wanted to do. He was passionate about volleyball and always wanted to have a team of his own he could practice with. He thought having a team meant that he had a fighting chance, and believed that it was the only important thing he lacked.

Then one day, he woke up.. literally.. and realised that it wasn't only a team that he was lacking, he himself just wasn't good enough. He had been naive, thinking himself good enough when all he could really do was run and jump. He realised that, if he didn't change, he wouldn't stand a chance against those who seriously trained everyday to constantly improve themselves.

So he did just that... he changed.

Now, Hinata was a fifteen year old boy that woke up early in the morning. He started his day with some stretching and exercises, followed by a jog around his neighbourhood. After that, he had a relaxing bath and made sure to eat a healthy breakfast. His mom was very happy with this new development, especially since she could now feed him more. Natsu was a bit resentful about the increase of vegetables.. but she was happy for her big bro too.

He left for school early to participate in the morning training of Yukigaoka's girls volleyball team. He'd initially been a bit nervous about it but they welcomed him warmly. Especially since he was no stranger and they were used to seeing him practice by himself all the time.

During the school time, he tried to concentrate on his studies and found he now had a much easier time understanding whatever was being taught in class. Middle school stuff felt pretty easy to him now and he wasn't very surprised by it. It would have been surprising if it didn't feel easy.. especially with all his advantages.

His progress was evident in class and the teachers were very happy. Especially his English teacher. He was now her favourite student and she wasn't even subtle about it. His classmates wondered what happened to him to make him improve that much and his friends.. Kōji and Izumi.. were simply shocked. They couldn't believe any of this.

Izumi was convinced Hinata was possessed and Kōji strangely found himself agreeing. Hinata and studies were two things he'd never put together before, but now.. he didn't know what to think of it. He thought he knew his friend pretty well.. but now, he was questioning if he knew him at all.

He now brought a pretty big lunch too and they always wondered since when he'd started eating so much, and where all of that food went. Thankfully though.. he now trained a lot and therefore, got hungry more often. Eating it was hardly an issue, and he needed all the energy he could get.

The only thing that put them at ease was that Hinata was still quite cheerful and he had promised to help them with their studies. It was enough to convince them that their friend was still there.. it was just that he had changed.

After school ended at 3 p.m, he either joined the girls for their practice or joined the Neighbourhood wives/mothers. He'd then return home at around 5 - 6 p.m in the evening (depending on practice duration), and rest for while. He'd take this opportunity to finish any homework he had, before going to the gym to workout. He'd joined the community gym and whenever he could find time and energy to spare, outside of his schedule, he'd go to the gym and workout. He especially paid attention to his strength training.

He'd start by some stretching and then move on to strength training. He always paid attention to his leg workout.. especially using the Seated Press and Leg Press. After his strength training, he'd always finish with some light cardio and then head to the sauna. It helped reducing the tension in the joints and with sore muscles. After that, he'd take a cold shower and head home. After dinner, he sometimes watched some volleyball videos and anime for a bit, if he wasn't too tired, and then went to sleep.

Whenever they had practice, he'd join the Karasuno Neighbourhood Association to train with them. On those days, he didn't practice with the girls or neighborhood mother's after school. He went home straight away after school, and then hit the gym at 4. He didn't spend to long in the gym those days and would be home by 5:30 in the evening. He'd then rest and eat his meal, before heading to the Neighborhood Association practice.

Their practice was usually later into the evening and would start at around 7 p.m.

Sometimes, that caused him to get home a bit late, but it was a minor inconvenience in front of his goals. He'd just have enough time for dinner, before he collapsed with exhaustion and fell asleep immediately. His body needed time to rest and recover and he wasn't going to compromise that. While it was okay every once in a while.. constantly doing it did more harm than good in the long run. The last thing he wanted was to hurt himself by overworking his body.

He made sure to leave just enough time for his homework and studies. He'd promised his mom he'd do good in school and he didn't want to loose his newfound reputation in class. Apart from meeting in school, and sometimes doing homework together at his place after school, he left his Saturday afternoon free to hang out with his friends.

He almost always had practice with the Neighbourhood Association on Saturday evenings so he hit the gym in the morning itself and spent the afternoon with his friends. His Saturday schedule wasn't as tight, and left him with some much needed breathing room to make any changes if it was required. Like.. on Saturdays, he could use his morning exercise and jogging time to sleep a bit longer, or just do something else, as he could directly hit the gym in the morning to complete his daily workout.

On Sunday.. he just spent time watching TV - Playing games - Watching volleyball/Sports videos.. and being around his family. He was especially fond of Anime and MMA. It was a fact that not many people knew of, except for his two friends and family. But already knowing the outcome of all the fights he'd been been most excited about took the novelty away from it.

The gym was closed on Sundays, but he didn't skip on his morning jogging. He took Sundays as a rest day and mainly just relaxed. He knew resting was just as important as training and he was happy with his progress.

He also cooked for his family on Sunday evenings as they really loved his food. He had to learn to cook, to take care of his sister when they were going through a hard time, after his father left and his mom had to work really hard.. even in less than perfect health.. just to keep everything together.

Cooking had started as a job but had now become a hobby. He enjoyed cooking and felt relaxed whenever he cooked. His cooking had now gotten even better, thanks to his memories/vision. His future 'him' had to cook a lot for himself, and it wasn't just limited to a single cuisine. Hinata could now reap the benefits of 'his' experiences and use them to make different dishes. The world was just too unfair sometimes.

He had thoughtfully crafted his schedule and had been following it for over a month. This schedule was working for him and he didn't plan on changing it. It didn't leave him with much free time, per se, but if he wanted to catch up to the best of his peers, who were already ahead of him, he didn't have much room for complains. Not that he had many, to begin with.

It was a huge contrast to his life before the match with Kitagawa Daiichi.. but he found himself liking this much more. He finally felt like he was doing something worthwhile and was slowly reaching where he wanted to be. And now that he was beginning to solidify his basics.. he would soon have the ability to experiment with and practice different things, putting his knowledge to good use.

For example.. he already knew how to do a jump serve, and after he got his basics down, he could use that to practice it, and perfect it for himself. He recalled Oikawa's Demon serve. He'd definitely try to replicate that for himself and give it his own touch. It would be killer weapon to have in his Arsenal.

While knowing how to do something, and really doing it were quite different.. it didn't change the fact that already knowing the techniques involved made it much easier to actually achieve it.

His training had already started to slowly show results. It was true that he was still behind his peers, but that wouldn't be the case for much longer.